In 1895 Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) began his monumental photography project that would result in The North American Indian. The scope of his work expanded through the years and with financial backing from J.P. Morgan and the contribution of a Preface by Theodore Roosevelt, Curtis began publishing in 1907. His effort was not completed until 1930, comprising twenty volumes of text each with approximately 75 full-page gravures (14 x 19 cm./5 x 7 inch). Additionally, each volume was accompanied by a portfolio of 35 or 36 large images (30 x 40 cm./12 x 16 inch) for a total of around 2200 photogravures. (Curtis is said to have taken some 40,000 photographs for this project.) At an issue price per set of $3000.00 it is not hard to see, with the coming of the Great Depression, why he was never able to print and sell his goal of 500 sets. Rather, the real wonder is that he sold the 272 sets that he did.

The photogravures we have for sale were printed, we believe, as part of an aborted project in the mid-1970s that included a group of investors and his daughter Florence. The group's goal, as we understand it, was to finish out Curtis' dream of 500 sets by printing 228 copies of the one hundred best images.

These stunning photogravures were printed on handmade paper watermarked with Curtis' signature using a Brandt press like the one Curtis used originally. And they are, of course, a fraction of the price fetched by those rare copies of the first printing that surface in the marketplace from time to time. The quality is, however, the same. Prices may be seen by passing your mouse over the photos (if your browser is Internet Explorer.)

"In the early morning this boy, as if springing from the earth itself, came to the author's desert camp. Indeed, he seemed a part of the very desert. His eyes bespeak all the curiosity, all the wonders of his primitive mind striving to grasp the meaning of the strange things about him." - Curtis
[Volume I]

"The subject is shown in all the finery of a warrior dressed for a gala occasion -- scalp-shirt, leggings, moccasins, pipe-bag, all embroidered with porcupine-quills; eagle-feather war-bonnet, and stone-headed war-club from the handle of which dangles a scalp. High Hawk is prominent among the Brulés mainly because he is now their leading historical authority, being much in demand to determine the dates of events important to his fellow tribesmen." - Curtis
[Volume III]

"The tree-fox tails hanging from the coup-stick shows the subject -- Medicine Crow -- to be the possessor of three first coups, that is, in three encounters he was the first to strike on of the enemy's force. The necklace consists of beads, and the large ornaments at the shoulders are abalone shells." - Curtis
[Volume IV]

FRANK SCHNOOVER
Pen & Ink Drawing of Indian in a Canoe
tipped to Journal Page on verso
together with a signed Bank Draft

This drawing on the back of a page of Schnoover's diary is a memorable one. According to his son, Cortland, this Indian in a canoe, which Schnoover used as his trademark, is a key to his father's personality and his penchant for the outdoors.

Frank Schnoover was an accomplished member of the Brandywine School, along with Howard Pyle and the Wyeths, executing many book illustrations, among other things, in the 1930s and 1940s. The journal entry describes his going to a football game and mentions "one choice little girl with charming low-necked dress." Full text follows:

[page] 103
interrupted - beat the very Jesus out of Hanson in squash - home and wrote more. then to Economic forum at Eclectic with Coward - mostly a review of managed currency plans. lots of baloney thrown - In evening to hear English singer - very delightful - damn thing on my face gets continually worse - must see doctor about it. I think I am treating it the wrong way. did not get letter written to family - heavy snow - wore old Camp's bear-skin - spats & Denby[?] - "the three Fairy" crock was very funny. Gamble clapped at an odd moment - was his face red! - whew - listened to Cosa Loma[?] & to bed very tired.

Saturday, Nov 18. Wes 15 O.R. 0 - Champs of Petit Entente, cold, gray & drizzle Slept late - wrote a most unusual letter to the family giving vital statistics - Lunch - In P.M. watched soccer game for a while - then to see Local high school foot-ball game - much amusement - we were in the Middletown stands - cheered much by - one choice little girl with charming low-necked dress - live snow ball fight during the half - Dresser[?] got hit between eyes like Ha....and did once. Wonderful fun - more cheering etc than at any Wes game I ever saw. Went back to [End of Page]

PHOTOS. A bound
and boxed folio album of 175 black & white photographs by Time Magazine photographer Richard Lachenbach taken November 2-14, 1963. Lackenbach accompanied 20 U.S. corporation executives and one college president on a 7 city, 6 country journey sponsored by his magazine (but paid for by the execs). At each stop the travelers had meetings and wined & dined with the Head of State, the United States Ambassador, Time Bureau Chiefs, etc. $3500.00

In Washington, D.C. the group met President Kennedy, Dean Rusk and A. Dobrynin. Obviously, these pictures are among the last ever taken of the President as he was assassinated less than three weeks later. In London they met with Edward Heath, (Board of Trade President at the time). In Moscow there are pictures of Khrushchev, A. Gromyko and a chance meeting with the author John Steinbeck. They also caught the (formerly) big, annual parade in Red Square. Then on to Berlin and Bonn with Chancellors Erhard and Konrad Adenauer (separately, of course). Next, Brussels with dinner at the Val Duchesse in the room where the EEC was first negotiated. Finally, they flew to Paris for meetings with Finance Minister Giscard d'Estaing and Prime Minister Pompidou. Here, they also met with Jean Monnet, the architect of a United Europe.

There are a few pictures showing members of the group doing funny, tourist things; perhaps the best of these is a shot in Bonn of three of the participants testing the springs of the "bed in which Neville Chamberlain tossed and turned while staying at the Petersberg during his historic meeting with Hitler."

Fine condition for the folio. The box is rubbed with lots of corner wear. Cloth binding with gilt titles stamped Time News Tour of Europe/ November 1963. Photographs and text on rectos only. This copy is one of fifty bound and boxed for participants of the trip. Although the forward mentions 21 individuals, the afterward lists 33 'Members of the Group', not including the Bureau Chiefs, the Secretary, the Air France crew and Lackenbach himself. [You may call/fax for a complete list of the participating Captains of Industry and photographs.]

The production of the original plate was supervised by Williams in the Florida Keys early in 1981 and is taken from one of his oil paintings that depicts the same scene. There were, as I recall, 95 originals. 26 were lettered A thru Z and signed in full, 65 were numbered 1 thru 65 and initialled "T W" and 4 were both initialled and signed in full. Many people, I suppose, are not aware that Thomas Lanier Williams painted as well as wrote.

[WINE]. Sherry Wine & Spirits Co., Inc. catalog with original order form. Produced in late 1962. Ca. 11½ x 14 inches. 23 pages, of which eight are full-page, linoleum-block cut, color prints by Picasso. We are pleased to be able to include, with this item, a stand alone, original linocut from this suite of eight. $450.00

Fine condition. Picasso began his foray into linoleum-block prints around the age of eighty; these are among his first published efforts. As was his style, he transformed an
essentially 'school-craft' into a serious, professional endeavor by introducing new refinements and techniques. He printed from only one block the two or three colors chosen for his 'linos'. The process is described in the Catalog in an article by Dr. Alfred Frankfurter on page 6.

HISTORIC PRINT

JONES, Alfred
(1819-1900). "Mexican News" or "News From the
Front". Steel engraving, 17½ x 16½ inches, from a painting
by R.C. Woodville. Published by the Art Union in 1851. $1650.00

Crisp & fresh, a superb impression.

One of the most well-known 19th C. American images, made popular in countless school books. It depicts a group of eight men, a woman and a child gathered around a man reading an 'Extra' edition of a newspaper on a front porch. The scene depicts an announcement about the Mexican American War of 1848 and is rife with additional social commentary. The child and one man are black and occupy a position, on the steps, much lower than the others. The woman is listening from a position outside the railing and is less well delineated. The whole group is assembled in front of a saloon.

Fielding wrote that as a line engraver Jones had few, if any, superiors in this country and that 'Mexican News' is considered a fine example of his work. The entry in Appletons' Cyclopedia published two years before Jones' death reads, "He is regarded as one of the best engravers in the United States." Jones was born in Liverpool but emigrated while young, winning first prize at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1839. He invented a process for producing directly from a photograph a plate that could be printed with type.

English pub sign reading, WHITBREAD and BIRD IN T'HAND with a profile of a tankard enclosing a dog's head. All lettering in gold against black background. Tankard white in a red field bordered with white and gold. Whole sign rimmed by gold line. The subsurface of the sign has an application of gesso to accept the paint.

Good condition with a few nicks and scrapes. Mounted and wired for hanging. $850.00